F1 2020 Liveries: Codemasters can save us from a dull season

With just a week until Winter Testing starts in Barcelona we have begun to see the 2020 cars get rolled out of the garage and debut in varying degrees of pomp and ceremony.

The three leading teams have dropped their car on the fans, as have McLaren, and it's safe to say that the F1 2020 season will feel much like the the 2019 one.

Both Red Bull and Ferrari look almost identical to last year, while the only minor change to Mercedes comes from a fresh sponsor.

But the F1 2020 game doesn't have to feel so samey. Sure, Codemasters are tasked with faithfully creating the actual cars in digital form, but the addition of custom liveries for multiplayer last year was a big step, and something we hope the British developers can take to the next level.

Custom liveries

F1 2019 multiplayer car
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YOUR CHOICE: Pick a livery and change its colours in F1 2019

F1 2019 made a daring change for online multiplayer. They created a stock car for everyone to use and then created a number of liveries for it that you could change the colour scheme of.

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It made for a different feel in online play as one grid never looked like another.

It did introduce microtransactions, which is a worry, but overall it was an excellent addition that will almost certainly return for F1 2020's multiplayer.

Taking it to the next step

motogp 19 customization
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MOVE IT: MotoGP 19 allowed players more freedom

Evolving this feature would be the next logical step.

That means moveable blocks and shapes for liveries, and ideally the addition of sponsor logos.

The custom liveries of F1 2019 looked great, but they also looked completely alien to F1 as they weren't covered in sponsorship for oil, watches, or clothes.

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The ability to pick a sponsor from an industry - so pick one watch company to sponsor you, one hotel chain, one airline - would help players design a more true-to-life car and increase the sense of ownership drivers have with it.

And that should lead to one logical conclusion...

Spice up the F1 grid

F1 2019 action at French Grand Prix
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SAME: Add a red ring to the air intake of Mercedes and this is F1 2020

F1 2020 is going to look frustratingly similar to F1 2019 thanks to the majority of teams retaining their old designs.

Sure, Haas have switched back to their white-based and Alpha Tauri will surely have a new look to match the name change from Toro Rosso, but they will also be behind most players when it comes to career mode and rarely seen.

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F1 2019 introduced driver transfers, allowing you to see Sebastian Vettel in a Mercedes race suit, so why can't it allow you to play with the livery of the car from season to season?

Come the end of the year, why not allow you to return McLaren to silver & red, or Williams to blue & yellow? Why not move the positioning of some sponsor logos?

F1's career mode is more than just a racing sim, as you take direct control of engineering choices too, so why not design choices.

If F1 teams won't spice up the grid with bold and changed liveries, why not let players live the dream of a stark and ever-changing grid?